Foundational Links

There's a good post by Debra Mastaler, on Search Engine Land, about "Foundational Links". Debra talks about how to start building inbound links to your web site, which is one of the big pieces in getting your site ranked well by Google, et al, by "establishing a base of links from authority sites that work toward building their business reputations." These foundational links are from solid, reputable sources and are generally inexpensive or free.

First are the directories, such as JoeAnt, Best of the Web, GoGuides, and the Open Directory Project.

Second are authority links, such as industry associations you or your business belong to, the Chamber of Commerce, etc. These can improve your reputation within your industry. Also, you'll want to see if you can get links from high ranking sites (if these aren't the same as the aforementioned ones).

Online newsletters may give you a chance to get either paid links by advertising in them or free links by writing articles for them.

Debra also suggests Yellow Pages ads, of which I'm not a huge fan, since they're often expensive and I haven't seen them drive the kind of traffic that businesses are looking for. I suppose it depends on the type of business you're in.